“It was quite shocking,” he told NHK. “(Tepco’s) explanation is totally different from the one in the past.”

Fishing around the Fukushima plant was halted shortly after the crisis, and production of beef, milk, mushrooms and vegetables was banned in surrounding areas, crippling the prefecture’s thriving fishing and agriculture industries.

Tepco, which is surviving thanks to a massive infusion of public funds, said it would step up efforts to reduce underground water by consolidating soil near its harbor.

Radioactive substances released by the reactor core meltdowns at the aging plant following the huge quake and tsunami of March 2011 have been leaking from damaged buildings and mingling with the ground water, which usually flows out to sea.

Environmental experts warn that the festering radioactive sore could contaminate the food chain by tainting marine life and ultimately, the humans who eat it.

Tepco said earlier this year that a fish found with radiation more than 2,500 times the legal limit had been caught in a port on Fukushima No. 1′s premises. It also said last week that around 2,000 people who worked at the plant now face a heightened risk of thyroid cancer.

This is 10 times more than Tepco’s previous estimate for potential thyroid cancer victims and came after the beleaguered utility was told its figures were too conservative.

“It was quite shocking,” he told NHK. “(Tepco’s) explanation is totally different from the one in the past.”

Fishing around the Fukushima plant was halted shortly after the crisis, and production of beef, milk, mushrooms and vegetables was banned in surrounding areas, crippling the prefecture’s thriving fishing and agriculture industries.

Tepco, which is surviving thanks to a massive infusion of public funds, said it would step up efforts to reduce underground water by consolidating soil near its harbor.

Radioactive substances released by the reactor core meltdowns at the aging plant following the huge quake and tsunami of March 2011 have been leaking from damaged buildings and mingling with the ground water, which usually flows out to sea.

Environmental experts warn that the festering radioactive sore could contaminate the food chain by tainting marine life and ultimately, the humans who eat it.

Tepco said earlier this year that a fish found with radiation more than 2,500 times the legal limit had been caught in a port on Fukushima No. 1′s premises. It also said last week that around 2,000 people who worked at the plant now face a heightened risk of thyroid cancer.

This is 10 times more than Tepco’s previous estimate for potential thyroid cancer victims and came after the beleaguered utility was told its figures were too conservative.